Stay With Me
by TheFifthMarauder3027
Summary: Lily turned back to James. "Stay with me. Please." she whispered in his ear.


**Rated K+ for mild violence**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his late parents don't belong to me. I am not J.K. Rowling...I promise!**

The restaurant was in ruins. Lily gripped James' hand as her eyes landed on the bodies of the Muggles. They were still and lifeless.

There was a loud crack as Sirius Apparated behind them.

"Hey, Lily, Prongs," Sirius said grimly. "Looks like all of the Death Eaters have gone, then."

"Seems like it," James replied, putting his arm around Lily, who was still squeezing his hand tightly. However, her attention was elsewhere. She was staring at the remains of a table.

"J-James? Sirius?" Lily pointed shakily at the table with her free hand, which had started to move. A human shaped figure emerged from the rubble. James, Lily, and Sirius drew their wands and pointed them at the figure, which had started to walk towards them with his wand out as well. As the figure got closer, they could see it was a man wearing a Death Eater mask. The mask had a piece of it missing, so Lily could see that it was, in fact, Lucius Malfoy.

"You..." James growled, letting go of Lily.

"Oh, you again? I can take you down easily, Potter," Malfoy sneered.

"You'll have to fight us too," Lily stepped in front of James bravely, pointing her wand at the Death Eater. Sirius and James came to stand next to Lily.

"Oh dear, three against one, what _shall _I do?" Malfoy drawled in a mock frightened tone.

"Crucio!" Malfoy pointed his wand at James, but James deflected it with an easy 'Protego!'.

"Quick reflexes, eh, Potter? Not a problem." Malfoy turned to Sirius. "Crucio!" he yelled.

Unfortunately, Sirius was not as quick to put up his Shield Charm as James. He screamed in pain as he dropped to the ground in agony. James couldn't bear to see Sirius in pain. He attempted to Disarm Malfoy, but the Death Eater deflected it easily. "Not so fond of seeing your precious friends in pain, Potter? Well, see how you like this!" Malfoy pointed his wand at Lily, since she was distracted by Sirius, who was still writhing in pain even though the curse had ceased. He sent a nonverbal spell at Lily's back.

"NOOO!" James yelled, diving in front of Lily, who had turned around a second too late. The curse hit James, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

"JAMES!" Lily screamed, rushing to his side. She dropped to her knees and felt for his pulse. It was barely there, and getting slower. Lily lifted James' head onto her lap as tears began to stream down her face.

"Sirius!" she screamed. Sirius, who had recovered the pain, ran to James' side.

"What curse was that?" he asked shakily.

"I-I'm not sure,"Lily cried, burying her face into Jaes' chest.

"I'll get Malfoy for this!" Sirius growled, wheeling around. But Malfoy had gone.

"He Disapparated!" he shouted at the sky. "The dirty-" Sirius let out a string of swear words, none of which Lily wanted to repeat. She frantically shook James' shoulders.

"Please wake up, James! Please-please wake up…" Lily's voice broke and she had another round of shuddering sobs. Sirius had stopped shouting and was now sitting on the ground, his head in his hands. Lily stroked James' hair, tears cascading down her face and onto his.

"I love you, James Potter." she whispered. "I love you so much." Lily could have sworn she saw the corners of his mouth twitch.

Behind her, Sirius and gotten up and had begun to talk to himself. Lily could only hear small fragments of his sentences.

"Notify Dumbledore...relay message...I've got it!" Sirius yelled to Lily in triumph. "I can send Dumbledore a Patronus message thing, telling him what happened, and then he can come and set James right!" Not waiting for an answer, Sirius cried "Expecto Patronum!"

Lily turned back to James. "We're getting help." she whispered in his ear. "Dumbledore's coming. Stay with me. Please."

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There was a loud crack as Dumbledore Apparated beside Lily. He immediately knelt down to get a closer look at James.

"I came as soon as I got the message...ah. I see. "Only the darkest of wizards are able to perform...exactly like when...yes, I know. Miss Evans, if you would please come with me. Mr. Black-Sirius, who had been lost in thought, jerked his head up at the sound of his name-please notify the rest of the Order on the results of your mission." Sirius nodded and quickly Disapparated.

Dumbledore used the Levitation Charm to lift James as Lily got to her feet. She grabbed James' cold hand and Dumbledore's arm and the trio Disapparated with a crack.

Dumbledore, Lily, and James landed in the sitting room of Godric's Hollow. Dumbledore lowered James onto the couch as Lily watched him anxiously.

"What did Malfoy do to him?" Lily asked Dumbledore, wringing her hands. "Will he be all right? Is he still-" Lily's voice broke.

"Yes, Mr. Potter is still alive. But only just. The life is slowly reading him. We must act fast. I have seen this curse only once in my life. The counter-curse can only work if the person the victim loves most is in contact with him. I believe, Miss Evans, that that would be you." Dumbledore smiled.

Lily smiled slightly. She knew it was true, but it was still nice to hear it.

"What do I have to do to make the charm work?" Lily asked after a few moments, remembering that they did not have long.

"Just joining hands would be enough." Dumbledore removed his wand from the pocket of his robes.

Lily took both of James' hands in her own. Dumbledore tapped their interlaced fingers twice with his wand. Several silver ribbon-like wisps emerged from the wand tip and wrapped around James' chest, absorbing into his skin. He started and gave a heaving breath. Lily breathed a sigh of relief. James was going to be okay.

"It seems like Mr. Potter will make a fast recovery. If you'll excuse me, I have some urgent business to attend to. Good day, Miss Evans." With that, Dumbledore Disapparated, leaving Lily and James alone in their sitting room.

"James? Are you awake?" Lily whispered, sitting herself on the other side of the couch beside James.

"Lils?" was the weak reply.

"You're okay!" Lily cried, grabbing his hand. James' eyes fluttered open, and he gave a small smile.

"What else would I be?" James asked quietly. Lily's eyes filled with tears of joy. She gave a small laugh.

"I was so worried. I thought-" Her voice broke. "I thought you left me." Lilly threw her arms around James, with no intention of ever letting go.

James sat up carefully and wrapped his arm around her waist. "I would never leave you, Lils. I live for you, I live to protect you. You're my favorite person in the entire world. If I left-" His voice faltered. "I would take you with me. I love you."

"I love you too, James Potter. More than anything."


End file.
